The 1987 Montreal Protocol and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol called for countries around the world to phase out substances that deplete the ozone layer and cause global warming, but many HVAC systems still use synthetic refrigerants that violate those international agreements and inflict environmental damage. Recently, Iranian researchers investigated how natural refrigerants could be used in geothermal heat pumps to reduce energy consumption and operating costs. They report their findings in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy.

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and Savannah River National Laboratory have developed a low-cost method for real-time monitoring of pollutants using commonly available sensors.

A new approach to find unmarked gravesites could help narrow the scope and potentially speed up the search for clues during crime scene investigations. Geospatial researchers with the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and forensic scientists at University of Tennessee used LIDAR to detect telltale signs of recently buried human remains.

Four scientists from the University of Rhode Island are among 100 researchers from 30 institutions who shipped out of Seattle today to embark on a month-long expedition to study microscopic organisms that live deep in the ocean and play a critical role in removing carbon dioxide from Earth’s atmosphere.

Scientists have discovered that the electrical resistance of this material changes in an unusual way under very high magnetic fields—a finding that could help direct the search for materials that can perfectly conduct electricity at room temperature.

Sulfur isotopes can serve as tracers of atmospheric oxygen, and new data collected from the present-day atmosphere in China by an international team of researchers, led by the University of California San Diego, indicate remarkable similarity to the isotopic footprint found in ancient rocks. This opens up new interpretations of the Archean Period’s sulfur isotope sedimentary signature—a proxy for the origins and evolution of atmospheric oxygen and early life on Earth.

A research team including Matthew Sanger, assistant professor of anthropology at Binghamton University, State University at New York, has found a copper band that indicates ancient Native Americans engaged in extensive trade networks spanning far greater distances than what has been previously thought.

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The vast reservoir of carbon stored beneath our feet is entering Earth’s atmosphere at an increasing rate, according to a new study in the journal Nature. Blame microbes: When they chew on decaying leaves and dead plants, they convert a storehouse of carbon into carbon dioxide that enters the atmosphere.